


Broomsticks and Bothers

by earlgreyteawrites



Category: Voltron - Fandom, klance - Fandom
Genre: Angst, Fluff, Harry Potter AU, Hurt/Comfort, KEITH FIC, M/M, Vld keith - Freeform, harry potter klance, keith kogane - Freeform, klance, klance fic, klance fluff, klangst, lance fic, lance mcclain - Freeform, lance serrano - Freeform, vld keith fic, vld klance - Freeform, vld klance fic, vld lance - Freeform, vld lance fic
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-05
Updated: 2018-12-05
Packaged: 2019-09-07 17:09:39
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,240
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16857976
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/earlgreyteawrites/pseuds/earlgreyteawrites
Summary: Trigger Warning! Mild homophobia, cursing and sensitive topicsLance is having a bad day, or, well, the worst day more of. At least Keith is there, he'll know what to do, even if Lance manages to face plant off his broom.





	Broomsticks and Bothers

 

 

    Lance could barely keep his broom straight. He was trying his best, he really was. But every time he caught sight of the snitch, tears blurred his vision and he lost it. He’d been trying for a full two hours, and with this stupid protective helmet he couldn’t inform Keith that he needed a break. It was supposed to help him focus, but honestly, it just made everything worse.

    Keith was pushing them hard this week, Lance had already stayed here for three hours trying to catch the stupid snitch. Lance knew this was for a good purpose. Keith was always really into Quidditch, he wanted everyone to try and do their best. Lance had been slacking a little bit lately, he could admit that. This was what he deserved. But…why did it have to be today? He would’ve taken any day, _any_ other day. He didn’t even care if it was during O.W.L.S. Just not today.

    “Lance! Focus!” Keith called. The rest of the team was gone. The grass in front of them was empty. Lance wanted to sob as he looked around for the snitch again. Keith watched from the ground his arms crossed. He was obviously frustrated, seeing as it had been hours that they’d been doing this. Lance gestured to his head, motioning to take the stupid helmet off, but Keith wagged his finger no and snapped his fingers with urgency.

    It wasn’t Keith’s fault that he didn’t know what had just happened only a couple hours ago. Lance had barely managed to keep himself together. He breathed in and out as he did his exercises, stretching with Keith and trying his best to listen to his advice, but it was all fuzzed out.  Everything felt so fuzzy after it had happened.

    Lance’s ex-girlfriend had come up to him for whatever reason, deciding it was the perfect time to scream at him. And no, it wasn’t because of the relationship. It wasn’t because of anything in the past. It was a different reason. A horrible, evil little reason that actually happened to be the one that caused the breakup (though it was mostly one sided on Lance’s part). Lance had tried to leave it as no hard feelings. He tried to explain that the relationship was just hurting the both of them, but…somehow, to his absolute horror, she had figured everything out.

    She’d screamed, calling him slurs that he never thought would be used in his direction. Somehow, he didn’t know how, but he didn’t cry. It was all he could do to walk away. And when she started to follow him he ran. He ran right to Keith, right to practice. What made it even more awful was Keith thought he was being early on purpose and had turned around to get things set up, totally oblivious to the fact that Lance was about to break down into sobs.

    Lance felt his hands shaking, so he tightened his grip on his broom, forcing it not to show as he sat in the middle of the field, scanning around. The moment he caught it, he would be done. He would leave and it would all be fine. He could curl up in the bathroom and cry as long as he wanted, but right now he just needed to get the snitch.

    Lance sucked back his tears, forcing himself to look around through the already dark and blurred helmet. He wore it during practice seeing as it made his response time extra fast in normal situations and the perfect speed for bad weather and dark situations. In this case, it wasn’t much of a help, but he was going to do it.

    “Fifteen seconds.” Keith announced. Fifteen seconds to find the snitch. Lance moved his head around rapidly, scanning and searching. And finally, much to Lance’s relief, he spotted a familiar golden glint. Finally. He could go back to the dorms, he could finally cry. That’s all he wanted right now. He just wanted it so, so bad.

    And he wanted it just badly enough, that his focus on the broom suddenly broke. He had forgotten he was practicing with the cursed broom. It bucked if you didn’t concentrate on it. And in seconds, he was sent flying through the air.

    Lance hit the ground with a solid thud, body skidding across the grass. Keith clicked the timer, shaking his head and sighing. The enchanted broom flew into the forbidden forest, making these weird squeaking noises and the snitch…it was gone again. Lance’s whole body ached, seeing as this was the fifth time he’d crashed like this. He watched as Keith called it back. It swooped down as Keith continued to look disappointed , catching it and tucking it away.

    “…Hey, you’ve been really off today. What’s going on with you?” Keith asked suddenly, walking over. Lance struggled to get off the ground, groaning in agony. He probably looked like someone getting up from a serious duel, not a guy that fell a couple feet to the ground off a dumb broom. He barely managed to get to his feet, his whole body was shaking madly. It was so bad that there was no way it could go unnoticed, not even by someone as oblivious to body language as Keith.

    Without even thinking, Lance yanked the helmet off of his head. Tears pricked the corner of his eyes as his hair stood up at odd sweaty angles. In a fit of pure emotional distress, he threw the helmet against the ground so hard that it made a dent in the grass. He screamed, because it was the only thing he could do. It made him feel like a toddler in a rage, but he wasn’t in a rage. All of those hurtful things that had hit his ears had been far too much. He didn’t know what to do, he didn’t know what to say. He’d obviously freaked out Keith a little bit, seeing as he’d frozen where he was standing. Keith looked a little panicked, his eyes darting up and down Lance as though he were trying to understand what was happening.

    That’s when Lance completely broke.

    “I’m sorry.” he sobbed, “I’m sorry, I can’t do this today. I-I’ve been trying but I can’t Keith, I can’t.” Lance thought Keith would’ve been awkward in a situation like this, he thought he would have tensed up and backed away. Keith was bad with emotions, he was bad with social things, but, Keith turned out to be the exact opposite with this situation.

    “…Hey, hey…Don’t cry. It’s okay. I’ve been pushing you a little too hard, we can just work on it tomorrow-”

    “That’s not the problem!” Lance sobbed back, voice getting higher. His chest felt like there was iron embedded inside of it weighing him down. Suddenly feeling top heavy, he swayed. Keith lunged over, grabbing him by the shoulders

    “H-here, sit down. Just breathe. Breathe.” Lance swayed madly, the world spinning around him as Keith settled him down into the grass. His emotions swirled, creating a never ending knot in his gut. He wanted to throw up it hurt so bad. And not even the shock of how Keith was handling this could fix that. “Breathe.” Keith repeated. Something so simple suddenly seemed like the most difficult task known to man. Lance tried, he tried as hard as he could, but it hurt so much. The only thing he could do was hiccup it all out.

    “She, she….she found out!” Lance sobbed, unable to even move his arms. They felt as limp as noodles, hanging uselessly in his lap. “Sh-sh-she already told people. She called me a…a…” Lance gulped, he couldn’t even say it. Concern swarmed Keith’s expression as Lance continued to sob there uselessly. Lance tried to explain, but his words seemed to fade out, leaving him with only incoherent blubbering.

    Keith seemed terrified as he watched Lance crumple. But thankfully he kept his hands on Lance’s shoulders. It felt like the only thing holding him together.

    “I don’t understand why or how she…I don’t understand…I don’t know how she figured it out…” Lance cried, feeling desperate. Keith tried to comfort him, running his hands up and down Lance’s arms.

    “What did she figure out?” he asked, voice as calm and gentle as possible. Keith knew that talking about it usually made the situation better for Lance, so he hoped the simple question would help. “Can you explain that?” he wasn’t prodding Lance, but at this point Lance was so lost it felt that way. He descended into blubbering again, tears pouring rapidly down his face.

    “I don’t know!” Lance sobbed, “I don’t know, I don’t know-”

    “Shh.” Keith whispered, “I-it’s okay, it’s okay, just breathe Lance. You’re hyperventilating.” Keith moved from kneeling on the grass to sitting, carefully bringing himself closer to Lance.

    “I’m sorry Keith. I’m sorry-”

    “No, no, it’s okay.” Keith mumbled, “Don’t be sorry. Your feelings matter much more than practice.” Lance appreciated that, he wished he could tell Keith how much it meant to him. But just as the good words reached his ears, the bad came back and slapped him across the face. Anxiety flared in his chest. Lance tried to calm down, he really did, but he was full fledged panicked.

    Keith pulled Lance’s face gently to his shoulder, wrapping his arms around him. It was genuine and sweet, filled with a gentleness that Lance could barely comprehend at the moment.

    “…Whatever happened, you don’t deserve it.” Keith mumbled. “I understand if you don’t want to talk about it, but you can always talk to me about anything.” Keith punctuated the sentence with a tiny, affectionate squeeze. “Practice is over for today. Let me clean this up, go and sit on the bench for a moment, okay Lance?” Lance barely managed a nod.

    Keith was careful and gentle, helping Lance walk to the bench where he eventually sat, watching as Keith called the broom back with a whistle and carefully set everything down into the locker rooms on the side of the field. Lance wished he could’ve helped, but he could hardly even stand, weakened by his emotions.

    _‘You’re disgusting! I can’t believe I ever went out with you!’_

    Lance squeezed his eyes shut, fat tears trickled rapidly down his cheeks. Keith sent him a worried look as he wiped off the practice helmet Lance had thrown to the ground.

_‘Nobody should have to go through that, so don’t worry, I made sure to tell everyone as a warning.’_

    The helmet was finally stored, leaving the field empty. Keith walked over to Lance, fitting a hand on his shoulder.

    “Let’s go to the bathroom and get some tissues for you, ‘kay?” he suggested softly. Lance barely managed another nod, standing shakily. Keith was gentle with him as they walked to the bathroom inside of the Quidditch stands.

    It took the entire ten minute walk for Lance to stop crying. Even when they got into the place, he was still sniffling and sobbing softly. Keith grabbed some tissues, wetting them with warm water.

    “It’s okay…It’s okay Lance.” he mumbled. Lance’s body shivered madly as Keith bent down, pressing the warm tissues to his closed eyes. He kept it there for a little while. For some reason, it actually helped the stinging in his eyes to stop. “There we go…” Keith mumbled softly, removing the warm compress from his eyes. Lance blinked. He could finally see clearly, which was both a good and a bad thing considering he could see how terrible he looked in the bathroom mirrors.

    Keith offered Lance a soft smile, holding up some more tissues, “Blow your nose.” Lance did as he was told, accepting the offer with no hesitation. He blew his nose quietly as Keith pressed a new warm wet tissue to his eyes, brushing Lance’s sweaty hair to the side so he wasn’t pressing that into his eyes.

    Eventually, Lance’s nose was cleared and Keith took the moment to gently remove the compress again. Lance felt a little bit pathetic sitting there, his team captain, winner of the Triwizard Tournament, the guy who’d gotten the highest score in his year on his O.W.L.S, was comforting him in one of his worst moments.

    Lance took a couple deep breaths, unable to look Keith in the eyes as his face crumpled a little again. Keith took his chin in his hand, tilting his head and pressing the tissues to his eyes for a third time.

    “Just a little longer.” Keith promised, “It’ll help your eyes not to sting.” Lance submitted, still clutching loosely to Keith’s jacket.

    “I’m so sorry.” Lance sniffled.

    “No, it’s okay.”

    “This is so pathetic-”

    “It’s not pathetic.” Keith corrected in a way that made it impossible to argue back. Lance clutched Keith’s jacket a little bit tighter within his fingers, trying his best not to cry more than he already had. “…Do you want to talk about what happened?” Lance honestly wasn’t sure at this point, because he knew that if he talked about it either he would; one, cry even more than he already had; two, Keith could react in the same way his ex had. But at the same time, Keith might be able to help, and talking about it might help ease the pain later.

    Keith moved the compress again. Lance blinked, his eyelashes sticking together a little bit. Keith had a genuine look in his eyes. Lance could tell he was worried, that he wanted to know what was wrong so he could fix it. Keith had always hated not being able to help people, that’s where his inner Gryffindor really shined through.

    “I…I want to tell you.” Lance managed, blowing his nose. Keith seemed to relax with relief. He tossed the compresses to the side but grabbed the nearest box of tissues. A new one appeared to fill its place.

    “Okay, let’s go up to the stands, we’re not talking about this in toilet stalls.” Keith offered. Lance knew it was an attempt to make him laugh, but, he couldn’t find the strength to do it. He walked, or more of wobbled quietly, Keith holding onto his arm carefully in case he suddenly felt top heavy again. It was a little bit hard to climb the stairs, seeing as his legs were shaking like a baby deer’s. But Keith didn’t fail to help him up the whole way.

    They managed to climb into the stands, thankfully finding them empty. Keith set Lance down gently, still holding the box of tissues close, waiting for the moment when Lance would completely lose control again and burst into sobs. But thankfully Lance had a good amount of control at the moment over his emotions…sort of. His body still trembled and felt like all of the energy had been sapped from it; otherwise he was doing a little bit better than before. Thoughts were still clouding his head, making it harder and harder to think.

    “So…are we going to talk about it?” Keith asked quietly. Lance nodded, gulping and taking a deep breath. He decided to say it now and get it over with. If Keith found it weird, he would know right now, if not…well, it would at least be a little bit more encouraging.

    “…I have something I need to tell you first.” he barely croaked. Keith waited, seeming a little worried and also a bit anxious. Lance’s lip trembled a little bit. He couldn’t bring himself to look Keith in the eyes. “Look, I’m….”

    “…You’re?” Keith mumbled.

    “…I’m bisexual.” Lance flinched just saying it. He turned his eyes away, lips trembling dangerously. “…My ex, I…I don’t know how but she found out. She was homophobic, that’s why I ended the relationship, and she just started saying….saying things and telling me that she was going to out me to the school…” Lance blubbered, “I don’t know what to do. I’m so scared.”

    Keith blinked, using the moment to take in the shock. Lance barely managed to glance at him, watching as Keith recovered from the moment of surprise.

    “…Oh, Lance…” he mumbled breathlessly. “I…” Lance, unfortunately didn’t take that as a good thing.

    “You think it’s weird, don’t you?” he croaked, feeling himself crumble.

    “No! No no no!” Keith mumbled quickly.

    “Are you homophobic too?” Keith went quiet, hardly able to comprehend the question. “You are, aren’t you?” Keith stayed silent again. A hurt bloomed in his eyes that Lance couldn’t understand.

    “No! Lance, I’m not homophobic. I don’t think it’s weird.” he corrected. “I would never think that’s weird.” he mumbled, “…I’m…I’m so sorry you’re going through this. I know what this is like, I…god…this is so messed up.” Keith looked up at Lance, his eyes filled with a sadness deep and dark. Keith…Keith clearly knew what he was talking about. He understood, there was pain in the look he was giving Lance. “I wish you would’ve told me sooner, I can’t believe you’ve been holding all of this in for two hours of practice.”

    “I didn’t want to bother you.”

    “Lance, you can bother me anytime.” he sighed, “Practice can wait-”

    “I’ve just been off all week. I…I wanted to make it up to you.” Lance tried to explain, his voice getting higher and higher with guilt.

    “Lance, it’s okay to slack off a little. And that isn’t even the point of this. It’s not okay that your ex is doing this.”

    “It’s not like I can control her.” Lance sniffled. He couldn’t help it. Keith had tried, he really had, but he couldn’t stop more tears from tracing down his cheeks. “I can’t control what she thinks or what she does. I don’t know why she’s doing this to me, we ended this months ago, I don’t know what her problem is.” Keith face fell, his eyes getting sadder. He looked like he couldn’t figure out what to say, eyes shifting with different and deeper emotions. 

    “And it’s not like anyone can help. Nobody that’s a guy in this school likes guys except for me. And…and she’s going to out me. I-I don’t want this. I barely even figured it out. I don’t know anything really about being in the community, I don’t know myself, I-I don’t know anything. I’m just…I’m scared Keith. I’m so, so scared.” tears slid down Lance’s neck, his nose beginning to drip. 

    “I never wanted this. When I thought about it I just wanted to tell my family, that’s it. I didn’t want the whole school to know.” his voice cracked. Lance brought his hands up to his face, letting out a hollow sob. He was terrified, absolutely terrified. And there was nothing he could do.

    Keith was quiet for a moment, his falling with every second that Lance cried. He decided to do the only two things he could think of.

    Keith leaned over, quietly wrapping Lance into his arms. Lance would have appreciated it more had he not been a total mess.

    “Lance…you’re not alone. You’re not the only one who…likes guys.” Keith faltered for a second, “…I’m…I’m gay Lance. And I’ve gone through this too. I won’t let this happen again. I’m going to make sure of it.”

    Lance was so surprised he actually stopped sobbing, looking up at Keith.

    “You’re gay?” he mumbled, voice barely above a whisper. Keith nodded quietly, but now he was more confident.

    “Yes. And I’m not going to let this happen.”

 

 

    Before Lance knew it, Keith had dried his face once more with tissues. He stood up and Lance stood too, suddenly less wobbly. Keith had done something. Lance wasn’t sure what, but it had made him feel better. And suddenly, Keith grabbed Lance’s hand, holding it tight.

    “Nobody outs my best friend.” he looked Lance straight in the eyes, “I’m not going to let anyone hurt you.” Keith pulled out his wand, gripping it tightly.

    Suddenly they were both inside of the Great Hall. Lance panicked for a second, but nobody found this out of the norm. Keith pulled Lance along, but not in a forcing way. Lance could tell Keith was trying to say ‘you can leave or come, choose here.’. Lance continued to follow quietly, squeezing Keith’s hand.

    And there she was, sitting at the edge of the Ravenclaw table. Her brown hair was tied up and once enchanting golden eyes bright with an air of mischief. She looked like she was preparing to say something when Keith stopped besides her. Lance had never seen him so furious, his eyes glinting with nothing but pure rage. He glared down at her, making her pause before she spoke. Then, with slight horror, she realized that Lance was standing besides him.

    “Hi Penelope.” Keith forced a smile, “I think we have something important to talk about.” to Lance’s relief, nobody shot him disgusted looks. They just seemed to be confused as they sat there, quizzical looks on their expressions. Keith must’ve caught her just in time.

    “Uhm, I’m sorry, I need to-”

    “This isn’t something we can delay.” Keith said coldly. Penelope looked like she was going to wet her pants, but at the same time she seemed incredibly infuriated.

    “Fine.” she grumbled, standing up. Lance felt himself shaking a little bit. Keith gripped his hand tighter, gently pulling him to the hallway. He opened the door, letting Penelope and Lance out of the Great Hall before he began to rage. Keith let go of Lance’s and his interconnected hands, nudging Lance so that he was safely positioned behind Keith. Only then did he turn to Penelope.

    “You had no right to speak to Lance that way. You had no right to snoop into his personal life and you had no right to threaten him.” he said, voice so cold it sent a shiver down Lance’s spine. Penelope seemed to be intimidated too, but hid it decently well. She glared back at Keith, eyes cold and dark.

    “I was only telling him the truth.” she snapped back. Lance tried not to sob. Keith noticed his state instantly, his anger flaring.

    “There’s a difference between the truth and hate speech, but you don’t seem to understand that, do you?” he replied. Penelope’s anger seemed to increase, but Keith interrupted her before she could continue, “Some things are better left unsaid. You’re a fifth year, I think you should’ve understood this by now.”

    “Well, a faggot like him deserves to be spoken to in whatever way I like.” Lance felt tears prick the corners of his eyes. Keith snapped,

    “Well, a piece of shit like you deserves to be slapped across the face, and yet here we are.” tension floated in the air. Keith’s hand tightened around his wand as he stared Penelope dead in the eyes. 

    “Lance doesn’t owe you anything. You aren’t entitled to him or anything that he does. You have no right to use him, out him or hurt him. It doesn’t matter who he is or who you are. I’m not going to let anyone use ridiculous logic like yours to justify their actions.” before Penelope could think of doing anything, Keith flicked his wand. A spell landed over her mouth, one Lance had never seen before. Keith concentrated carefully, keeping the spell tight on her lips.

    _**“You will forget anything and everything you’ve ever known or seen about Lance’s sexuality.”**_

    Penelope suddenly blinked, her eyes going wide and confused. Keith put his wand back in his boot before she could register what had happened. Keith relaxed, breathing out as she studied him for a moment.

    “…What happened?” she asked, seeming a little bewildered.

    “Uhm, memory spell, remember?” Keith said casually, “You asked me to help you remember the _Wingardium Leviosa_ spell for the exam last week.” he shrugged.

    “Oh!” she exclaimed, “Yeah, sorry.” she sighed. Lance watched with amazement as Keith continue to talk to her, convincing her that she was just in a slight daze from the rejuvenating memory, waving her off to go back to the Great Hall.

    Lance stared at Keith, watching as he turned around to face him. He smiled softly.

    “Don’t worry, I checked her memories. She was the only person that knew. Your secret’s safe with me-woah!” Lance couldn’t help it. He threw himself at Keith, wrapping his arms tightly around him and letting out whimper, but a happy one. Keith relaxed in his arms, hugging him back gently.

    “Thank you Keith.” Lance sighed. Keith simply smiled.

    “Don’t worry about it.” he nudged Lance softly, feeling a small blush grow on his cheeks. Lance felt his own cheeks heat, both from the relief and also from the hug and the closeness. 

    Lance wasn’t going to tell Keith quite yet, but he had been the one to turn Lance. And now with the reassurance that he wasn’t going to be outed and the realization that Keith was gay….well….Lance felt a lot better.

    “You’re the best.” Lance mumbled. Keith just laughed a little, gently breaking them apart.

    “You are too. Now how about we relax and finally get some dinner, ‘kay?”

    “‘Kay.” Lance replied softly.

    And so they walked back to the Great Hall, hands brushing quietly against each other.


End file.
